


Heads up

by br0jangles



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Coming Out, Domestic, Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 04:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18887374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/br0jangles/pseuds/br0jangles
Summary: Uhhhhh... I just finished reading Act 7 because I never read it and I was mad that Dave never got to come out.I started out with a sense of where I was going, but it kinda tapers off, so I'm listing this as a drabble.





	Heads up

“I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“I know you don’t,” Dave sighs. He closes his eyes while Karkat’s fingers run gently through his hair. “It’s definitely a stupid human thing. It’s easy to talk to you about, but just  _ thinking _ about telling my friends--” His stomach twists in a knot and he’s nauseous all over again.

He stays quiet for a beat, the quiet hum of the TV filling the silence. “Do you promise not to tell anyone how uncool I am in real life?”

“Absolutely the fuck not,” Karkat deadpans. “You are the worst, most miserable grubfucker I have ever had the displeasure of meeting.”

“I knew I could count on you.” Dave turns on the couch, on his back with his head still comfortably in Karkat’s lap. He looks up at the troll through the dim tint of his shades and he wonders how he could have ever been so naive. Girls? Who needs them? Not Dave, that’s who, apparently.

“I still don’t understand why it matters. Are you planning on telling John you’re in love with him when he gets here?” Karkat hasn’t looked away from the TV. He has no idea that he’s the reason Dave wants to melt away.

“And steal him away from you? What kind of bro would I be if I did that?”

“Don’t start with me, Strider! You know it’s a sore subject!”

“Are you telling me you’re  _ not _ going to try to get your hate-mack on with him? I think he’s a little too nice for that, but you might be able to rile him up if you start shitting on his shitty movies.”

“Why the fuck do I put up with you?” Karkat snarls. He stops his petting to grip Dave’s hair threateningly and scowl down at him.

Dave’s heart sinks and pounds in his stomach, because holy shit, this would be the perfect moment. It would be so easy to grab him and pull his down into a kiss--  _ god _ , he really wants to kiss Karkat.

His mouth goes dry and he has to lick his lips before speaking. “Beats me, Rose and Kanaya are much better company, honestly.”

“Ugh, don’t get me started on those two.” Karket lets go of Dave’s hair and looks back up at the TV. 

Dave’s heart settles down into disappointment in another lost opportunity. It’s hard enough realizing he’s not exactly straight without having to worry about fucking quadrants. He doesn’t want to deal with that again, no matter how much he likes Karkat.

__

* * *

 

TG: have you ever thought about being with a troll

TG: like really thought about it

TG: i know you had this thing for whats-her-spider a while ago, but did you actually want to be with her

 

EB: i don’t know, maybe?

EB: why?

 

TG: the whole quadrant thing never weirded you out?

TG: what would you have even been with her? flushed? spades?

TG: what if youre all flushed and shit and then you get into a fight one day

TG: does that make it black?

TG: what if she had a hatemate on the side, wouldnt that make you uncomfortable?

 

EB: i don’t know, dave! i never thought about it that much.

EB: i guess i would have just had to talk to her about it and figure it out.

EB: but it doesn’t matter anymore.

 

TG: totally doesnt matter anymore

TG: that shit so over with its practically a rainbow

 

EB: a rainbow?

 

TG: what

 

EB: dave…

EB: is there a troll that you like?

 

TG: what thats ridiculous

TG: what gave you that ridiculous idea

 

EB: i don’t know!!!!!!!! maybe the fact that you are being super obvious!!!!!!!!

 

TG: alright

TG: maybe there is

TG: what about it

 

EB: you should talk to karkat about quadrants. he would be a lot more helpful than i am!

 

TG: yeah

TG: i guess i wanted a fellow humans opinion on the matter

TG: to see if maybe it weirded you out as much as it weirds me out

 

EB: well…

EB: is she seeing anyone else right now?

 

TG: not exactly

 

EB: then maybe it doesn’t matter!

EB: if it’s just you two, what’s the difference?

 

TG: i guess

 

EB: say, dave…

EB: are you going to tell me who it is?

 

TG: oh wow

TG: all of the sudden i have mad places to be

TG: hella dream bubble noise happening

TG: bye john

 

EB: !!!!!!!!

 

* * *

 

Dave stares down at his hands while he walks. More specifically, his right hand, which is currently being held by Karkat’s left hand. It really pushes his fucking patience that Karkat can be so open touchy feely in such a platonic way. Really makes a guy feel super guilty for taking way too much pleasure in it.

“Are you even listening to me???” Karkat suddenly yells.

“No,” Dave says. He tears his eyes away from their hands to notice they’re on their way to can town. “Hey, we’re on our way to can town.”

“Unbelievable. Worthless piece of human shit.” Karkat yanks his hand away and uses it to open the door. “You know, you’ve been spacing out a lot lately.” Karkat’s voice is slightly less agitated now, more of a genuine, heartfelt agitation. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, man. I’m fine. I guess I just got a lot on my mind now that we’re getting so close to the rendezvous.” Dave’s now empty hand twitches at his side.

“You’re a bad liar.” Karkat sits in the middle of can town and Dave sits beside him.

“Aren’t you nervous? To finally meet the love of your life for the first time in person?” Dave teases.

“Hop off my bulge, Strider! Why are you always riding me about those two grubsniffers! If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were jealous.” Karkat’s hands grip tight at his knees. He’s been doing better at keeping a lid on his outbursts, but it tends to bubble up.

“Jealous of John? Please, I’m sexier and cooler than him any day.”

“...”

“...What?” Dave asks, furrowing his brows at the way Karkat is looking at him. Like he’s suspicious. Like he’s thinking  _ way too hard about this _ .

“I just realized. You always push John and Harley on me, because that’s soooo fucking funny, and not totally old after three years of it.  And sometimes you joke about being flushed for John, but--”

“Karkat.”

“But you’ve never tried to compete with him before. For me.” Karkat squints hard at Dave, and all of the sudden it’s ten degrees warmer in the room.

“Why would I joke about that, it’s not funny,” Dave says, and thank god for his shades, because he can’t actually look Karkat in the eye. “You know I hate your stupid quadrants, dude, I wouldn’t even know how to joke about it.”

Karkat stares at him for another solid thirty, horrible seconds, before releasing him from eye contact. “What a shitty excuse,” he says. “You know, I always did the same thing with Terezi.”

“Uhg, not Terrzi again,” Dave groans. He flops down on his back and tugs on his own face.

“Hear me out! I fucked up with her. A lot. I never knew what I wanted from her. And I kept waiting and waiting for everything to be perfect. But it never was. When she was red, I was black. When she was black, I was red. The timing was never right and I blew every chance I ever got.”

“Ughhghghhhhhhhh.”

“My point is!” Karkat says, slapping a hand over Dave’s mouth. “That maybe I’m not that good at the quadrant thing either. I’m too selfish.”

“Phelphish?” Dave asks, muffled behind Karkat’s thick, grey hand.

“Yeah. Selfish. I think I could only ever be with one person at a time. Hell, I don’t even know where the fuck Gamzee is. Maybe one pale quadrant is even too much for me.”

They stay silent for a moment, until Dave pries Karkat’s hand off his face. “Have you considered doing it the human way?”

“Yes,” Karkat says. He’s looking right at Dave and the word sits heavy in the air. Honest and looming. The butterflies in Dave’s stomach go fucking nuts.

Here it is again. The perfect time to kiss him. Do it, Dave, you fucking coward, just do it and get it over with.

He sits up and holds the heavy eye contact with Karkat. His hands are sweating and there’s a lump in his chest. He clears his throat, looks away, and says, “Yeah man, maybe you should try it sometime.”

_ Chicken _ .

 

* * *

 

In the next few days, the meteor lands. They meet their friends. Dave, Karkat, and John proceed to have an extremely awkward and poorly timed conversation. Dave then goes on to have  _ another _ with Roxy, and YET ANOTHER with Dirk. None of this untangles the knot in his chest.

They fight Jack. They fight Lord English. They win, and they enter the new world. Everything works out for the best, except… Dave is still all fucked up inside.

They almost lost the fight. Dave almost died, having never come out to his friends. He could have died, never having told Karkat how he felt. It’s time for some shit to change.

Daves sits in a cafe, anxiously tapping his foot, sipping his cappuccino. He’s 17 now, he’s too old for this coward shit. He texts John and asks him to come out.

He sits there and waits the hour and a half it takes for John to show up.

“Hey Dave!” John says, with a friendly wave, as always.

John barely has a chance to sit before Dave cuts in with, “I’m gay.”

John slowly finishes lowering himself to his chair with a nervous chuckle. “Wow, Dave, you really--”

“I know you don’t understand what that means beyond the fact that I like guys. But I’ve always been this way. It just took me a while to figure it out. When I tried to give you a hint before, you asked me if I ‘turned gay’ and it--”

“I’m sorry, Dave,” John says, looking hurt. “I didn’t mean to be an asshole about it, I’m just stupid, you know that.”

“I know,” Dave gives a half hearted smile, and that’s when John knows that Dave has really been struggling with this. Dave Strider doesn’t  _ smile _ , he  _ smirks _ . And a fake one on top of that is all the worse.

The air is light, though, and John can feel that Dave isn’t mad. He’s probably just glad to finally get it off his chest. “I’m sorry,” John says again. He reaches across the table to put a hand on Dave’s reassuringly.

“I’m going to tell Karkat today,” Dave says next. His hand tenses under John’s. “At this point, it’s just fucking stupid to be nervous anymore, but I still get these goddamn butterflies in my motherfucking stomach.”

John laughs and squeezes Dave’s hand before pulling it back to his own side of the table. “You’re really screwed, aren’t you Dave? I’ve never seen you look so uncool.”

Dave flips John off and sips at his ice cold coffee.

 

* * *

Dave knocks at Karkat’s door. He’s hot and cold and dizzy and his adrenaline pumps through his veins faster than it did when he was fighting Jack.

When Karkat opens the door, though, he looks as stoic as ever. “Took you long enough, fuckass, I was about to start the movie without you.” He turns to go back inside, but Dave grabs him by the wrist and pulls him back.

Karkat barely has time to cock an angry brown before Dave’s lips are smashed against his. They stay like that for a long time, Karkat too stunned to move, before Dave finally pulls back to speak. “I don’t care what quadrant it is. I’ve been waiting to do that for years.”

“Sweeps,” Karkat snaps, narrowing his eyes. “It’s sweeps, not years, don’t be culturally insensitive you fucking globe sniffer.”

Dave rolls his eyes, but then Karkat is pulling him into another kiss. “Took you long enough.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ironically, my own fic doesn't even have an end. I'm out of practice and I need to start writing regularly again. If anyone has and prompts or requests you can hit me up in the comments. 👍🏻


End file.
